Electrolux French Door Refrigerator

Electrolux has long been a household name in vacuum cleaners, but over the years this Swedish manufacturer moved up to major appliances, both for home consumers, but for commercial installations as well.

Consumers often unknowingly buy Electrolux refrigerators, etc. sold under different store-brand names. Although the quality is the same, the store-brand names are sometimes less expensive.

One of the first and often mistaken assumptions consumers make when shopping for refrigerators is to assume they’re all pretty much the same. In an appliance store or the major appliance department of a department store, a number of refrigerators will be found lined up side by side, usually ranked according to size. Most look very much alike. These days, stainless steel finish doors appear to be the same, and the styles too, very closely resemble one another. But as one considers the refrigerator’s various functions, more subtle nuances come into play.

It’s important to look over the shelving on the interior. Shelf arrangements and adaptability on various models may differ greatly. It’s hard to say any one is superior because the shelving will depend greatly upon the shelves’ intended uses.

Many like to store gallon-size bottles not only of milk but juices, etc. and these take up considerable vertical space on shelves. Once having decided on shelving that should be suitable, it’s important to carefully examine the refrigerator’s interior construction. Are the shelves well-built? Will they hold up to daily use and can they be easily moved when necessary? Many buyers are taken by the appliance’s shiny exterior and bright white interior, but the wrong shelving once installed in the kitchen can quickly lead to buyer’s remorse

The exterior finish of the refrigerator also demands serious attention. Remembering that it’s going to be in the kitchen, a work area where busy housewives, husbands, and children come and go and while doing so, can easily brush up against or bump hard objects against the refrigerator’s shiny new doors.

The Electrolux refrigerator we examined, at $2,449.00 on Amazon, is one of the higher-end Electrolux refrigerator products. We asked ourselves if this price point was worthwhile, or could some of the lower-priced models do as well and save money at the same time? After all, lined up in the store, they all look so much alike that the average consumer would be hard-pressed to distinguish between a $2,449 model and a $1,149 model.

The Electrolux French Door Refrigerator EW28BS85KS

Pros:

Very attractive, counter depth so it doesn’t stick out into the room.

Very well and thoughtfully appointed.

This model comes with a competitive warranty

Cons:

Compared to similar models, this Electrolux seems quite pricy.

The finish appears to be a little fragile

You need to constantly wipe of finger marks off the doors

Exterior:

As on most French door refrigerators, the interior layout will appear familiar. Two large drawers side by side offer access to the main fresh food compartment. Beneath that, a full-width sliding drawer opens, offering enough space for a pizza, etc. although it may be more intended for extra cold storage for lunch meats, cheese, etc. having its own temp. control. On all French door refrigerators, a sometimes tiresome aspect is that both doors must be open to gain access to this wide door. The overall dimensions offer a bit less space than some models, but allow the refrigerator to line up with the counter giving it more of a built-in appearance. The freezer at the bottom is convenient and is self-closing.

The brushed-steel finish has remained popular but the protective coating offers little real protection against fingerprints and is easily scratched. The doors are, however, quite solid and never rock or rattle.

Interior:

On the interior, the fresh food compartment offers plenty of room, especially considering that it has to fit in an ice maker and the refrigerator doesn’t protrude beyond the rest of the kitchen counters. The space measures 18 inches deep, 32 inches at its widest point and is 22 inches high, excluding the crisper and chilling drawers. The shelves above hold over 18 square feet of stackable space. These can easily handle containers of mixed sizes from three to seven cup capacities. On top, next to the icemaker, the containers allowed the storage of a satisfying number of containers. On the shelves where the icemaker doesn’t interfere, there is, even more, space.

Everyone enjoyed the interior impression offered by its bright, clear finish and the white and blue lights plant the refrigerator firmly in the twenty-first century. The lighting in the compartment is soft and even from LED bulbs mounted on the doors’ edges, and the freezer below has its own light source.

The glass shelves, called Spillsafe, are simple and elegant, giving the impression of being serving trays. Sturdy cantilever hooks in traditional style with easy removal for cleaning make this a plus. However, just wanting to quickly change the height of a shelf to accommodate groceries, is not quite so fast and easy.

The crisper drawers, as mentioned, are side-by-side and tout Electrolux’s Luxury Close function. This means that they should slide shut softly and effortlessly. However, in practice, they don’t always work as promised, refusing to close all the way without a bit of a nudge. They come with the standard humidity control slider which tended to move rather sluggishly. The bins do hold considerable amounts of produce, in this case: fout tomatoes, four bell peppers, four ears of corn, a bundle of leeks and a head of lettuce leaving room to spare.

Beneath the crisper drawers stretches the EW28BS85KS’s best feature: the Perfect Temp. Drawer. This drawer occupies the entire width of the fresh food compartment and has its own control bank that allows for a selection of chilling temperatures for items like meat, poultry, fish and shellfish. Cheese and wines as well may be stored here. It can store up to three custom temperatures based on the consumer’s personal preferences. The temperature readjusts rapidly when room temperature food is inserted.

Ice is produced in a round form rather than in ice cube trays and is supposed to melt more slowly. An unexpected, but welcome feature of this model.

The refrigerator doors hold a pretty standard array of adjustable and removable storage pods, all in transparent acrylic. Four bins are large enough to hold two-gallon milk containers and another will hold a container of a dozen eggs, while one shelf on the left door tilts out 45 degrees for easier access, since it’s only large enough for very small condiments.

Air and water filters are easily accessible without the consumer having to fight to get to them.

The freezer offers nearly seven cubic feet of space, this making it a great place for frozen food storage with enough room for many families. One area too has been dedicated to ice cream promising to keep it “just right” at all times. An auxiliary ice maker assures the owner that there will always be sufficient ice on hand.

The EW23BC85KS comes with CSA certification but is not Energy Star certified. The FTC estimates its annual energy usage at 438kWh and an average annual operating cost of roughly $57.00.

While this refrigerator operates with a constant low hum, it didn’t appear to bother anyone in the test kitchen. The ice maker is quiet enough except when empty. As with most icemakers, ice falling into the empty container becomes noticeable

Warranty and Support:

The EW28BS85KS is available with a full 3 year warranty like many other refrigerators we have reviewed with similar features and configurations.

Conclusion:

The refrigerator has some attractive features that separate it from many of the stainless steel French door models a consumer will find lined up in any appliance venue, but for all that, many will find it hard to adjust to the initial expense, especially considering the constant annoyance of having to wipe away smudged fingerprints.

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Reviewlatest.com is your destination for all the latest unbiased product reviews and roundups from the experts and consumers, that are at the right price and on trend.

We are geeks, we love to research, analyze and test products to the point of obsession over many weeks or months to hand-curate our reviews. These are the products we would recommend to friends and family or buy for ourselves.